Vendors are starting to come around on benefits, PRG, Clair and Tait all have road staff that are eligible for benefits. The trade off is you loose the ability to turn down gigs and have to work a certain number of weeks to keep them. Also you are locked into a rate, so you earn the same on a massive stadium tour as you would on a cush shed run.
My experience is working on A level arena tours and I have been W2es over 90% of the time. Most of the time I'm paid by the artist's production. Thankfully plenty of bands pay out of states without state income tax so for folks living in states with out income tax there is some extra savings.
When I started in 2010 PRG would send out new lighting techs out at around $1,800 W2ed with no benefits. Figure $35-$100 a day PD on top of that with no expenses except on days off and thats a quick way to get ahead on student loans or save up for a down payment on a house. One tour I was so cheap I would gave up days off if I didn't like the city to cover for others so I could go into the gig and eat catering to save money. I was able to pay rent with my PD and not touch my checks.
I have not experienced a career ceiling in concert touring. If you are good at what you do and show drive and ambition you will move up. Either to a higher role, bigger shows, another company or another department. It doesn't help with the benefits but if you invest wisely and take advantage of anytime you are offered a 401K it is possible to sock away a decent retirement savings.
My experience is working on A level arena tours and I have been W2es over 90% of the time. Most of the time I'm paid by the artist's production. Thankfully plenty of bands pay out of states without state income tax so for folks living in states with out income tax there is some extra savings.
When I started in 2010 PRG would send out new lighting techs out at around $1,800 W2ed with no benefits. Figure $35-$100 a day PD on top of that with no expenses except on days off and thats a quick way to get ahead on student loans or save up for a down payment on a house. One tour I was so cheap I would gave up days off if I didn't like the city to cover for others so I could go into the gig and eat catering to save money. I was able to pay rent with my PD and not touch my checks.
It's also somewhat become a race to the bottom with wages for those working for the huge rental shops - especially for the younger folks breaking into the industry. Sure you get catering and nice hotel rooms and the conditions are somewhat less abusive but at the end of the day these folks are making $350/day for their work days and 1/2 pay on travel which means most of them aren't cracking $2k a week for a 5 day week with 1 travel day, 1 day off, and sleeper busses the rest of the time. It's good money for the folks starting out in their careers compared to theater touring but if they hit a career ceiling the pay is comparatively low. In musical theater touring at least if you hit a career ceiling after a few years you'll have about the same pay as someone working for a large rock shop but also have pension, annuity, and insurance.
Long story short - most touring models have become predatory and exploit folks passion for this business to feed more increasingly demanding productions
I have not experienced a career ceiling in concert touring. If you are good at what you do and show drive and ambition you will move up. Either to a higher role, bigger shows, another company or another department. It doesn't help with the benefits but if you invest wisely and take advantage of anytime you are offered a 401K it is possible to sock away a decent retirement savings.